Gambling and Sports Betting News Wire - May 31, 2019
Here are today's headlines in the world of gambling and sports betting as they happen - Friday May 31, 2019.
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11:50 pm - Guess Who Won the Casino Employees Event - Nicholas Haynes has captured the Casino Employees Event title and his first World Series of Poker Gold Bracelet. He defeated a field of 685 players to claim the $62,248 first prize. The 39-year-old Hanson is originally from Michigan and is currently working as a dealer in Las Vegas. Read More
6:28 pm EST - Winner of 2019 Poker Showdown Announced - Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood concluded its 2019 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown series on Thursday with a winner in the $3,500 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown WPT Championship. Crowned champion was James Carroll of Las Vegas earning a $715,175 first prize inclusive of a $15,000 WPT Baccarat Crystal Tournament of Champions.
“It feels great,” Caroll told the WPT following the win. “It’s surreal. It feels fantastic. I’m very happy right now.”
With 1,360 total entries, the WPT Poker Showdown Championship featured a final prize pool of $4,352,000, easily exceeding the $3 million guarantee. Additionally, the strong turnout marked the fourth largest field in WPT Main Event tour history.
Originally from Boston, Carroll is 38 years old and has been playing poker professionally for 10 years. His victory last night marks the second WPT title on his resume, previously having won the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Stars in 2014 in California. Last night’s win also goes down as the second-largest score of his career with reported earnings now approaching $4 million.
Championship Final Table Results:
1st: James Carroll (Las Vegas, Nev.) - $715,175*
2nd: Eric Afriat (Canada) - $465,120
3rd: Maria Ho (Los Angeles, Calif.) - $344,960
4th: Jerry Wong (Davie, Fla.) - $257,815
5th: Ami Alibay (Canada) - $194,610
6th: Chad Eveslage (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) - $148,380
4:09 pm EST - Man Accused of Keeping Grandmother Locked in Car for 16 Hours While He Gambled at Casino - 29-year-old Wesley Brown of Milwaukee is scheduled to enter a plea in July to charges he left his grandmother belted in and trapped in his parked car for 16 hours while he gambled at the Potawatomi Hotel & Casino.
The incident happened this past December.
The 77-year-old woman, who suffered from dementia, was found in the back seat of the parked vehicle and appeared to be confused. She had been pounding on the windows and doors.
Security officers reviewed surveillance video and determined the woman had been in the car for nearly 16 hours in 37-degree weather. Officers said her seat belt was secured so tightly that it had to be cut with a knife.
Her skin was bruised and she was in pain. No food or water was found in the car and the woman was wearing a soiled diaper, according to the complaint.
The child safety locks on the back seat doors were engaged, preventing her from opening the doors from the inside.
Brown claimed to be her caregiver.
4:02 pm EST - Man Charged With Killing Little Brother in Casino - A Philadelphia man has been charged in the murder of his younger brother at Harrah's Casino in Atlantic City.
Around 3 p.m. Tuesday, hotel security was called for a medical emergency in a room at the hotel where they found 32-year-old Joseph Villante, also of Philadelphia. He was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
An autopsy has revealed that Joseph Villante died after sustaining several injuries, including blunt force to his head, authorities said.
His brother, 38-year-old John A. Villante, was arrested Thursday in Philadelphia, and is being held in the city prison system pending extradition to New Jersey.
A possible motive is yet to be determined.
4:02 pm EST - Last Day to Get Something Done on Sports Betting in Illinois - Neither a long-discussed measure to legalize sports betting nor a massive expansion of casino gambling has seen action.
1:15 pm EST - Current MLB Line and Total Moves of Note - For numbers watchers, here are a few critical line and total movements. Books look to entice gamblers with the Nationals, moving them from -127 to -115 at Bovada. We've actually seen moves off the -140 elsewhere. They play on the road in Cincinnati.
The total on the Mets-Diamondbacks game has drifted from 9.5 to 8.5 then back up to 9 but with a definite trend downward suggesting the potential for an UNDER. The problem here is that better than 60% of the total betting action was on the UNDER.
We had a peak at the Marlins-Padres total dropping to 6.5 during brief periods, though this one has mostly sat at 7. We'd be hesitant about betting the OVER.
The Red Sox vs. Yankees game has seen the total drop from 9.5 to 8.5, an indication that this one could go UNDER. The total had moved back up to 9. 60% of the total action as on the OVER. Stay away from this one as Boston has shot up from +110 to -147.
The Twins vs. Rays line has seen Tampa go from a -110 to -125 favorite.
The Indians-White Sox OVER bears monitoring. The total has moved from 9 to 10.
The Angels line moved from -120 to -137 in Seattle.
1:09 pm EST - Brian Green Wins First Bracelet of 2019 WSOP - Brian Green has achieved one of his major poker goals and claimed his first World Series of Poker Bracelet in the $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty tournament. He won $345,669 and claimed the bracelet on his 27th WSOP cash.
“It feels wonderful,” he said after he won.
“I’ve come close several times so to finally win one kind of gets the monkey off my back. Now I can play poker and not really have that on my mind.”
12:50pm EST - Uganda to Nationalize Gambling - Uganda government has stopped renewal or issuance of licences to new and existing gaming and sports betting companies in the country “with immediate effect.” The government announced that it will take over the betting activities under a new policy mechanism to manage its interests in the industry. The readership base for Gambling911 out of Uganda is increasing fast. Read More Here
12:42 pm EST - Sports Betting in Oregon This Upcoming NFL Season - According to John Canzano, of The Oregonian/OregonLive, the Oregon Lottery intends to have a mobile sports betting available with a target date of the 2019 NFL regular season.
“We’re targeting NFL this year, launching our sports betting offering,” Matthew Shelby, a spokesperson with the Oregon Lottery, said. “We’re going to go mobile first just because it’s faster and then follow up with a sports-betting kiosk… it’s going to be much more than that sports action we offered. We’re looking at a full sports book.”
12:15 pm EST - Lucky Roulette Makes National Debut - Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla. has just advised Gambling911.com they are the first casino in the country to offer Aruze Gaming’s Lucky Roulette. The new machine, with eight stations, is located in the casino’s new gaming space as part of the $1.5 billion property-wide expansion. Seminole Casino Coconut Creek will also offer Lucky Roulette beginning next week.
11:41 am EST - MLB Weather Update - Great news bettors! The weather for all of today's Major League Baseball games should be nice with no delays or postponements anticipated.
10:37 am EST - Raptors Favored Again at -1.5 Sunday - Stephen Curry is still the betting favorite to be named NBA Finals MVP. Caesars Sportsbook opened Curry as a -150 favorite, but the odds have since lowered to -125 and could get shorter after Thursday night’s loss in Toronto.
"The market is not something we take a lot of public action on, so you have to be very careful, especially when you first open markets, to not let yourselves get buried by particular bets," Alan Berg, a senior oddsmaker at Caesars, told ESPN's Doug Kezirian. "If we get the type of action we're looking for from someone we considered to be a great player, then we'd move aggressively."
10:37 am EST - Gambling Raid Yields Nearly $250,000 - The Henderson County Sheriff's Office seized more than $250,000 following raids a game room just outside Seven Points City, Texas. The sheriff's office says deputies found more than 40 illegal gambling devices and paraphernalia. Deputies also seized $3,900 in cash.
10:31 am EST - Jeopardy Star Credits Win Streak to Gambling Skills - Jeopardy champ James Holzhauer is inching towards the all-time winning record currently held by Ken Jennings (US$4,223,414).
Appearing on a panel at the International Conference on Gambling and Risk Taking at Caesars Palace with Andy Bloch, Holzhauer told the crowd: “My perception of a professional gambler has always been a positive one.
